CHINEMEREM OMEH

Omeh’s hunger for peace, hope, and love merged with harsh realities make expressing pain, depression, and deception inevitable in his work. Throughout his upbringing in Nigeria, his artistic proclivities were met with deterrence from peers, teachers, and even his parents, as aspiring to become an artist was an impractical way to earn a living. That discouragement has not only made his love of art stronger, but also informed it. Central to his paintings, is man’s self-imposed exile from love and rejection of peaceful coexistence, which Omeh believes is the premise of our existence.

Aesthetically inspired by the landscapes of his homeland, Omeh utilizes the cracked surface of Earth that occurs during the Harmattan season and employs them as metaphors. The cracks, although caused by a water-starved Mother Earth, represent hope, peace, acceptance, and desire for a restoration of the natural world. His technique involves the rough and heavy application of dead caked color, which is mixed with linseed oil, creating a unique and original effect.